India, June 27 -- In a significant break from centuries-old custom, a 13-year-old girl has been formally declared the heir to a erstwhile royal family in Rajasthan's Pali district, marking a rare shift towards gender inclusion in a traditionally male-dominated practice. Tejaswi Kumari Jodha was invested with the ceremonial turban under the traditional "Paag Ka Dastoor" at Kherwa village on Thursday, symbolising her succession to the Kherwagarh lineage following the death of her father, Harish Chandra Jodha. The ceremony, held at the historic Kherwa Fort which is believed to date back to the 17th century, drew hundreds of villagers and onlookers. It marked for the first time in the region that a girl was recognised as an heir under this lo...